SB-issue59_digital

The Road to Patagonia
As frightening as a solo 50,000-kilometre surf trip sounds,
you’d be pleased to know that Matty wasn’t alone for the
entire journey. In British Columbia, out on the waves of
Vancouver Island, he met Heather Hillier – a permaculture
farmer with a passion for climbing, growing cabbages,
and surfing.
While the pair’s love story is by no means the central
focus of the film, it does make for a heart-warming
throughline. It’s also refreshing that the doco doesn’t
sugarcoat the problems that come with having a lifechanging
adventure as your first date.
Camping, exploring, foraging, and living freely on
nameless beaches and forests with someone you care
about does sound pretty nice though, especially when
you can surf some of the most surreal breaks in the world
together.
From torrential
weather, dead
ends, and a stolen
motorbike to the
looming threat
of predators, the
doco certainly
keeps you on the
edge of your seat.
Unsurprisingly, Matty told me they preferred to use
surfboards that have a bit of a unique flow to them.
#59 // smorgasboarder //
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“Having said that, we did have one thruster on the trip
with us, but none of the waves we surfed it on made the
film. I had a high-volume Corey Graham shorty five-fin set
up, but I mostly rode it as a single fin.
“I also had a 7’2” Corey Graham six channel widowmaker
for when the waves got big or really good, and that
board was amazing. Heather had a Mini Simmons styled
twinny that was heaps of fun. We shared the boards
between us.
“All three boards made it from the beginning of the trip
until it’s end, and I even took the 7’2” to Indonesia last
year, where, after nine years of surf adventures, it held its
own really nicely in the eight-foot swell of Lance’s Right.”